DECEMBER 2019 Seasons greetings! 2019! A memorable year with the obvious highlight being our In this issue… fabulous new terminal. The photos below tell the story; not just - Photos of terminal project pg 2 the end result, but some of the challenges and disruptions to our operations, businesses and customers throughout this - Eastern Air Services … pg 3 transformation. The project has been heralded a huge success - Airport Billboard pg 4 and, indisputably, this has only been possible due to the commitment and support of the entire team working at the - News from HDFC … pg 5 Airport. On behalf of Council and the Community, I sincerely - AIAC cadets … pg 5 thank each and every individual working at the Airport for their support and professionalism in seamlessly delivering this iconic - HDFC Scholarships… pg 6 project for our community. - Qantas visit and grants… pg 7 Beyond the terminal, 2019 will certainly be remembered for the relentless fires, which have devastated lives and caused significant disruption to the aviation industry. Despite these disruptions, our RPT services are strong, with passenger numbers increasing to 218,000 (Dec 18 to Nov 19). In 2019, Qantas has managed to overcome fleet and crew issues to reach record capacity in the Port Macquarie market in the later part of 2019. Not to be outdone, Virgin Australia has announced a new, overnight service in Port Macquarie from March 2020, in the context of an 2% reduction in overall domestic services. The challenge is set - can we reach record numbers of 230,000 in 2020? Congratulations also to Eastern Air Services in attaining an Air Operator’s Certificate to operate RPT services to Lord Howe Island in 2019. 2019 also recorded a record number of G.A movements and welcomed the P.M. (twice), Deputy P.M. (twice) and NSW Premier to the Airport! In 2020, safety and customer experience remain our top priorities. We are continuing to plan for stage one of our Parallel Taxiway project and Council has recently applied for an Australian Government grant under the Regional Airports Program for construction in 2021/22 (fingers crossed). Thank you once again. Merry Christmas and Happy new year to all. Peter Allen Airport Business Manager ([email protected]) PORT MACQUARIE AIRPORT NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2019 I PAGE 1 OF 8 PORT MACQUARIE AIRPORT NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2019 I PAGE 2 OF 8 Port Macquarie's Home Grown Airline By Christian Corse, Chief Executive Officer Its been a very busy time at Eastern Air Services group of companies over the past 12 Months with many milestones reached. We are extremely happy to announce that we received our Regular Public Transport licence from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) in October and our flight bookings to Lord Howe Island have far outweighed our expectations now and into the next season. At present our passenger runs on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays will be starting in the new year. Next season we are aiming for 4 to 5 days a week, Port Macquarie to Lord Howe and return, and 7 days a week from Newcastle and Gold Coast to Lord Howe and return. Eastern Air Services is now running the vital air freight service to Lord Howe on Tuesdays and Fridays of which we are finding is very good for our local suppliers as there is a lot more freight that is being purchased from our community instead of far a field. Our compliance team has been working closely with our regulatory bodies over the past 2 years to put in place all the necessary items needed to be able to fly to Norfolk Island from Port Macquarie via Lord Howe. We have received all the CASA approvals and we have staff undergoing Bio Security training early 2020 of which will finalise everything required and we can start flying to Norfolk Island. We have launched our Float Plane scenic operations on the Hastings river as of the 19th of December, just in time for the busy holiday season. The aircraft has been gracing the waters around Port Macquarie over the last 12 months conducting training for pilots from all over the country. We welcome our new staff pilots Cameron Baker and Paul Williams to the company, they have undergone extensive advanced training by Rod Gunther one of Australia's most experienced Float Plane Operators. Our team have also launched Port Macquarie's latest extreme tourist attraction, the "Super Decathlon" aerobatic aeroplane named "BIGGLES". At the hands of our experienced pilots, thrill seekers can come and enjoy flights over the very picturesque Mid North Coast. This aircraft will be also be used for flight training by our flying school, EAS Flying Training. PORT MACQUARIE AIRPORT NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2019 I PAGE 3 OF 8 In March this year we have been issued a licence by Marine Parks Australia to conduct scenic flights in to and out of the world heritage listed Lord Howe Marine Parks including Elizabeth and Middleton Reef. Several flights have already been conducted and were a huge success. November has been a busy month with clothing company Mountain Designs using our aircraft for photo shoots on Lord Howe to launch their products through Anaconda stores Australia wide. We have noticed a large increase in the numbers of students in November starting to learn to fly in our flying training facility here in Port Macquarie and also others choosing to advancing there skill levels. We would also like to welcome Anthony DeAngelo to the stable at the EAS Flight Training centre, Anthony is a great compliment and brings a wealth of knowledge and flight training experience to our company. I would like to take this time to thank the Port Macquarie Hastings Council for their continued support of our locally proud group of companies. On Behalf of all our team at Eastern Air Services we wish you all the best for 2020 stay safe. “Your Journey Matters” Port Macquarie Airport, in partnership with Charles Sturt University (CSU), invited CSU Creative Industries students to enter a Design an Airport Billboard competition in Semester 2, 2019. Participants were asked to design an Airport billboard that promotes Port Macquarie Airport as connecting the community through comfortable, customer-focused, safe and convenient services. The winning billboard, was a joint submission by CSU students, Gabriella Chan and Emelia Chant (pictured), who are studying Creative Arts at CSU Port Macquarie campus. The design highlights the role of the Airport in connecting the community to the world, compliments the new logo and emphasises the customer and their experience through their clever slogan “Your Journey Matters”. The billboard can be seen at the Airport, the electronic billboard above the Gordon Street bus shelter and on Hastings River Drive Port Macquarie (corner of Old Pacific Highway) throughout December 2019 and January 2020. Congratulations Emelia and Gabriella! PORT MACQUARIE AIRPORT NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2019 I PAGE 4 OF 8 News from H.D.F.C. By Veronica Lind Hastings District Flying Club Open Day was held on 24 November and drew a large crowd who viewed our Members’ aircraft, enquired about learning to fly and signed up for Discovery Flights. Congratulations to Rod Hall, who was announced as HDFC Pilot of the Year 2019. Rod has flown a wide variety of aircraft of almost every conceivable type over his career. He owns several aircraft of his own and flies formation exercises over Port Macquarie. Rod has involved himself generously with certain club activities this year. He revisited his Instructor Rating to help the club out with flying training and has become a close mentor to help other pilots, especially with instrument flying. Other news, including David Cooke’s first solo on the Robinson helicopter and Dr Ivan Young’s reappointment as Designated Aviation Ophthalmologist (DAO) can be discovered in the November issue of HDFC aviation magazine, Propwash. Propwash is available online, or can be downloaded from the www.hdfc.com.au. HDFC 2020 calendars are also now on sale online. HDFC would also like to welcome members and guests to their Christmas party on 20 December from 5pm at HDFC clubhouse. Bring a plate to share. Image: HDFC Open day New AIAC cadets By Kevin McMurtrie Australian International Aviation College (AIAC) welcomes the latest group of cadets to commence integrated airline pilot training at AIAC Port Macquarie. The new group, HU010 (Group 10) consists of 20 students who arrived at Port Macquarie on the 3rd December 2019. The students are postgraduate university students from the Civil Aviation Flight University of China (CAFUC) and Shenyang Aerospace University (SAU), and connected to Hainan Airlines and Beijing Capital Airlines. Upon graduation from AIAC, which is between 14-15 months, the students will return home to start their first officer training for the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737-800. We would like to make our new HU010 group very welcome at Port Macquarie and our airport community for the next 15 months. PORT MACQUARIE AIRPORT NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2019 I PAGE 5 OF 8 Congratulations HDFC Scholarship winners By Veronica Lind The Hastings District Flying Club promotes aviation to Hastings District youth and has offered close to 40 flying scholarships since they were reintroduced in 2006. The club has awarded three flying scholarship this year thanks to the generous donations from the Ludriks and Baker families, whose sons, former scholarship recipients Jimi and Matthew, are now flying with Cathay Pacific. Scholarships support the students to attain a Recreational Aviation Australia pilot certificate by providing approximately 50% of the minimum aircraft hire, instructor, briefing costs, HDFC membership and BAK theory kit. Training is conducted in the Sling aircraft under the tutelage of one of the club’s Recreational Aviation Instructors.